American Go E-Journal

by John Power, special Japan correspondent for the E-Journal
Korea wins Nong Shim Cup: The final round of the 19th Nong Shim Spicy Noodles Cup was held in Shanghai from February 26 to March 1. Recently, victory in this three-way team tournament had been monopolized by China, but this time they were thwarted by Korea.
To recap, the first Korean player, Shin Min-jun 6P, gave his team a great start by winning all four games in the opening round, held from September 19 to 22. In the second round, held from November 24 to 28, he picked up two more wins before losing to Dang Yifei of China (at right in photo). Dang closed out this round with two more wins, so only two players had any success in the first two rounds.
In the first game of the final round, Game 10, Dang played Iyama Yuta 9P of Japan, who was his country’s last hope. Dang (W) won by resignation, so this was another international failure for Iyama, following on his loss in the LG final. In Game 11, played on February 27, Dang (W) beat Shin Jinseo 8P of Korea by resignation so he extended his winning streak to five games. In game 12 (February 28), Kim Jiseok 9P of Korea (W) scored a dramatic win over Dang by just half a point, so he prevented Dang from matching Shin’s record. In game 13, played on March 1, Kim (B) beat China’s top board, Ke Jie 9P by resignation. This secured Korea its first victory in the Nong Shim Cup since the 14th term without having to call upon their top board, Park Junghwan. Korea scored eight wins to three losses, China 5-5, and Japan 0-5. Japan came third for the 12thyear in a row, but it was only the second time it failed to pick up even one win.

Fujisawa defends 30th Women’s Meijin: Recently, most of the women’s title matches have featured Xie Yimin playing Fujisawa Rina, but this year’s Women’s Meijin title match was different, with a member of an older generation trying to make a comeback. The challenger was Yashiro Kumiko (below left), who won a couple of titles over a decade ago, and the defender was Fujisawa Rina, who holds three of the top five women’s titles. The first game was played on February 28 in the Arisu Building at the Heian Jogakuin University, an Anglican-linked women’s university also known as St. Agnes’ University. The Arisu Building is a former nobleman’s resident that is on the campus. According to Go Weekly, Fujisawa’s play “overflowed with fighting spirit.” She held the initiative throughout and forced a resignation after 196 moves (she had white). The second game, which was played on the campus of the Osaka University of Commerce on March 7, developed differently, with Yashiro taking the lead. However, she let Fujisawa pull off an upset late in the game and win by 3.5 points. This meant that Fujisawa defended her title with straight wins. Surprisingly, this is her first successful defence, which is not what you would expect of a player who not so long ago held four of the top five women’s titles. First prize is 3,500,000 yen (about $32,000).

Kato & Iyama win Pair Go: The final of the Professional Pair Go Championship 2018 was held at the Nihon Ki-in in Ichigaya, Tokyo, on March 4. This is a knockout tournament, with 16 pairs competing. Reaching the final were the Kato Keiko 6P/Iyama Yuta 9P pair and the Suzuki Ayumi 7 P/Ko Iso 9P pair. The latter drew black in the nigiri, but lost a game full of hectic fighting. They resigned after 218 moves.